Surgical drapes are commonly used in the medical field. Such drapes commonly are used to cover the patient during medical procedures, exposing to the doctors and nurses only areas of the patient requiring attention. In the medical environment, it is also important to cover areas and stations where health care workers work and retrieve instruments. Back tables and Mayo stands also commonly receive such covers. Conventional drapes comprise non-woven materials, or non-wovens attached to plastic sheets. The table cover functions as a sterile surface to support medical devices and supplies. During procedures condensation may form on packages or devices that have been sterilized,(e.g. autoclaved). Such condensation can collect on the table cover as the device or package cools. In addition, instruments or other devices and dressings become coated with various fluids (e.g. blood, lymph, saline, etc.). Such fluids can collect on the Mayo stand cover. Conventional non-woven sections of the table covers absorb and otherwise contain such fluids.
In addition, it is desirable to present instruments and supplies in the operating room using sterile technique, whereby instrument kits comprise sterilized instruments that are opened and uncovered while simultaneously providing a table cover to a table or other support surface. In this way, the package for the instruments is unfolded carefully to provide a sterile surface on which the instruments contained therein may be placed. The instruments are then ready for use by medical personnel. Such packages and table covers must not lint; that is, they must not be susceptible to small fibers coming loose therefrom, since such loose fibers resulting from materials that "lint" can find their way into open wounds and otherwise compromise a sterile environment.
Further, drapes and table covers in the medical field must unfold to drape flat into their final positions without requiring additional positioning and adjustment. This is because such additional handling compromises the sterile field. Therefore, a useful drape or table cover will have sufficient weight or heft to stay in place once positioned and will not require any additional "smoothing out".
Therefore, a non-linting back table cover to support medical instruments and devices, and that is also capable of providing superior fluid containment and control, while being sterilizable and cost-effective to manufacture, would be advantageous.